Dear Everyone ~
Yesterday was Boxing Day, the British (and British Commonwealth) big shopping day after Christmas, presumably named to honour all the boxes shoppers would go home with. I’ve never been in the UK on Boxing Day, but love the idea of a holiday named for boxes.
My personal affinity for boxes bloomed after I saw the movie “Paper Moon” when I was ten. Addie Loggins’ character (Tatum O’Neal) always had her cigar box close at hand, containing her most worldly possessions, including chewing gum, cigarettes, and a small amount of cash. Having a box to carry around spoke to me. Soon thereafter, I started collecting cigar boxes, then stationery boxes, then I began organizing my stationery in cigar boxes.
Here are a few of my favourite boxes at home, relaxing.
The Betty’s biscuit tin is from my visit to York in 2019. When I saw the box on the counter at Betty’s café, it wasn’t the biscuits I was drooling for, it was the tin. The illustrations are charmola, and the tin is the perfect size to hold my various watercolour tubes. (I shared the biscuits before we left, so the tin would be empty for the trip back to Chicago.)
My friend Margo in Portola Valley sent me for Christmas this 1,000-piece puzzle from John Derian. This image of paint swatches on canvas happens to be one of my absolute favourites from his series of vintage illustrations. I couldn’t be more thrilled to have this box! I’ve already fashioned the wrapping paper the gift came in into the envelope for my thank-you note to Margo. I puzzled over whether it would be a liner or the actual envelope, but because the paper was so sturdy, I decided it could be a weather-worthy envelope.
Another sort of boxing day is when I receive a shipment from Carta Pura. They package all their pads of paper in these utilitarian extra-thick kraft boxes. I like to use them for organizing miscellany & then I hand-letter the “front” so that I know what’s inside.
Also this Christmas I received a gift from Jo Malone London, from my friends Debbie & Callan here in Chicago. The diffusers with their lovely bottle of scent (lime-basil-mandarin!) came in a deluxe mini-shoebox-size box, truly swoonworthy. (Hmmm, Jo Malone has the same number of letters as…Bari Zaki.) The branding is a paragon of understatedness.
From the humble to the luxurious, any box deserves a second life. My only word to the wise: label your box somehow, so you know what’s inside!
Vox box, Bari